There are no official statistics relating to the quantity of poultry feathers produced as by-products in the production of chicken meat and eggs, but if we do a rough calculation based on the internal reference materials one of the world's largest chicken producers, we find that the annual by-product quantity in the US is up to two million tons, and the Japanese by-product quantity extrapolated from this figure would be 150,000 tons.
Both in the US and here in Japan, the majority of the by-product feathers produced at chicken meat production plants is rendered into feather meal along with internal organs and other by-products due to their high collectability, but the majority of the feathers that are the by-product of chicken egg production plants is treated as industrial waste due to their low collectability.
Despite having good supply stability, a high protein value, and low cost, feather meal has been deemed the least valuable protein material for use as feed. The main reason for this is that it is deficient in essential amino acids and difficult for animals to digest.
In view of this situation, recent years have witnessed the development of techniques for transforming the morphology of poultry feathers, aimed mainly at making them finer, and there have been attempts at making use of the inherent water repellency and heat retention (thermal insulation) of feathers. Nevertheless, this presents the dilemma of high finished product price and the inability to create corresponding bulk demand, and so far no one has found a way to overcome this problem.